Month: March 2015

… and another week bites the dust. Already the last full one of March – can you believe it? And are you feeling the lack of that missing hour of sleep? Finishing this post Saturday night I can’t tell yet but ask me again come Monday …

Whatever the clock says it’s time for another round-up for great posts from the week so without further ado here we go!

Just a random note to start this post because it made me laugh and realiuze that while, yes, I’m used to writing in English, the dates still confuse me every.single. time. Look at that title: To you [depending on where ypu’re from] it looks normal. To me? It’d have to be 27/3/2015. Oh well, I figure you didn’t stop by to chat about the differences between Germany and the US, no? Though it is interesting to see how much we differ in multiple areas of life but oh, well, another day. Speaking of another day: Blogging – as much as I like and have missed it – once more missed my focus during the last week. But I’m determined to bring booty blogging back next week.

Favourites it is today! Moving on to what has been happening and making me happy these days. Thanks to Heather and Clare for hosting!

… and starting on a heart-y note
Do you ever walk a route a million times and all of a sudden see a detail you hadn’t noticed before. That’s what putting down your phone while outside does. And spotting a hidden heart can only make you smile, right? I’ve been going for a lot of walks lately and the best decision I made there was to carry my phone along but don’t keep checking it all of the time. These times of mindfulness and actually taking in my surroundings more intensely are amazing.

Apples the size of my face.
Don’t let the picture fool you. The peanut butter jar is a mighty 1.1 lb not a small one. For fun and kicks I let one of these apples [that clearly made the cast of Snow White] step on the kitchen scale. More than one pound of apple goodness. I like it.

They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Do you think I can skip the doctor’s for a week after eating these ;)?

Gnocchi
What is it about certain foods that makes them so crave-able? I’d seen gnocchi quite often in the blog world lately yet it had been ages since I ate them myself. Clearly, I needed to pick up a package the next time I was at the store. Admittedly, storebought gnocchi are a far cry from the real deal. They will do in a pinch, though, so I’ve been eating them several consecutive days this week. A simple tomato sauce, lots of fresh vegetables and nutritional yeast piled on top later on: a happy and satisfied me.

After I’ve seen others share their recent favourite pins or quotes I decided to incorporate two recent ones, too.

If I was to start this post talking about the weather like I did in past weeks – which I obviously won’t … clearly not – I’d have to whine about the lack of sunshine. But I told you I wouldn’t so instead I’ll leave it at saying that the weather shouldn’t define our mood because there’s something good in every day regardless – if we choose to see it. Ergo: If it’s rainy – or even snowy? – in your neck of the woods that’s a good reason to snuggle up and spend some time catching up on blogs. See? Bad day turned around. If only everything in life was that easy …

Hi! Long time no talk – or at least it feels like that. What can I say? Life is life. Did I really just refer to that awful song?? Crazy things happen when you don’t watch your mouth fingers typing. Going on. For a little change I thought I’d share some of the little things that make my life better as of now.

1. Spring! Oh, you mean I mentioned that one before ? I’m afraid you can’t keep a country bumpkin from getting happy at the sight of the first flowers awakening. It’s obviously not quite the same in the city but a literal walk in the park works.

2. The sun and walks. Unfortunately, my hip has been in pain again so running is not in the picture for me right now. Instead, I’ve been indulging in walks as often as I could. Just me or does the sun never cease to bring a smile to your face, either? Granted, it might have to do with blinking because you forgot your sunglasses [not like I ever did …] but it usually turns into a real smile not to long afterwards. Endorphines.

3. Something else that has certainly helped me boost the amount of those little endorphines lately? Kinder chocolate. It’s so weird and not me to reach for milk chocolate. In fact, I didn’t have any in my apartment so picked up a small box of the Easter edition at random. However, I’ve stepped up my game and ‘graduated’ 😉 to the larger box yesterday.

On a recovery-related note I will admit that I’ve felt guilty about buying, eating and enjoying a non-dark chocolate bar that is so far from vegan. I still like the darker bars more but I’m working on convincing myself that variety is the spice of life and eating Kinder bars is perfectly okay. I gave up eating fully vegan as a result of listening to my cravings so if I crave dairy milk chocolate: so be it. To end this unneccessarily long ramble: Satisfying our cravings is part of intuitive eating and normal. Any guesses what I’m currently eating?

4. Scented candles. Yes, I’m aware it’s getting warmer but we’re still not talking about actual summery temperatures so I’ll keep lighting scented candles every now and then. The other day I walked into a bookstore – technically a book store but they sell all kind sof odds and ends, too – and found Yankee candles for the first times ever. I know they’r epopular in the US but not over here so you might be able to imagine my excitement.

I didn’t end up buying one because the pries left me in slight shock but it’s so tempting I might end up splurging on them after all one day …

And that’s all from me for now as I have yet to hear of any self-cleaning apartments. Too bad if you ask me seeing as mine could use a major spring clean-up. I’m linking up with Heather and Clare today and will talk to you again on Sunday for some good reads.

Happiness-inducing today: An unexpected postcard from a friend currently traveling the world.

Happy Sunday, sun seekers! Okay, that last one totally just slipped for me there because I can say it definitely describes me these days. Every day lately has included a walk, some longer, some shorter, but I need to get that dose of vitamin D in. How could I not? Saturday wasn’t too amazing in those regards so fingers crossed for today! Moving on, though: links!

I swear there have been so many great posts lately I keep saving a few for the week to come every time because these posts are getting long enough already. Just so this intro isn’t adding to the length I’ll cut it off here and say that I’m pretty sure there’s something for everybody in the mix again.

Instagram. Facebook. The blog world. It’s everywhere: Comparison. Not a new phenomenon but one that I feel has been heightened to unknown expansion through social media these past years. And to be honest? It’s making me sad. Because you know introductions aren’t my favourites I decided to give you a glimpse into my brain in today’s or better yet: explain how this post came about. It was when being out and about with my mum and once more noticed how little she cares about what others do. Eat. Wear. And that’s when I decided to put my ramblingthinking cap on. Or thinking beanie if you’re living in the same climate as our sweet host Amanda where spring hasn’t sprung yet.

To make the Just the other day, I saw a girl on Instagram asking her followers about sugar. Or more specifically: if the recommended daily intake of it included fruit because she was worrying about her daily huge smoothies. What makes me sad isn’t the mere fact we tend to get fussed about sugar. Or the whole carb scare in general. It’s the fact that these days, there doesn’t seem to be any aspect of life left where we don’t feel constantly compelled to compare ourselves to others. Food. Appearance. Workouts. Jobs. I could go on.

Because I’m definitely not trying to pretend I was above all of this and able to completely blind out any and all advice and discussion on social media I’ll give a personal example: What I ate Wednesday. At the beginning of my recovery I’d read through other people’s WIAWs for hours. Always comparing what they ate to myself. Guess what that meant? If nobody else* was eating [insert amount of] chocolate, too, I felt guilty. Not normal. If I had carbs at every meal but others didn’t … you guessed it: guilt. Not normal? No. What wasn’t normal was a) my need to compare and b) the guilt I felt about following my cravings.

* 1. I obviously didn’t read every single WIAW post so maybe somebody did after all? 2. If I had simply looked around myself I’d have seen plenty of family members and friends eating whole chocolate bars on the regular. Reminder: the blog world only shows a tiny part of the world’s population.

We seek approval for ‘doing things right’. Is it okay to eat xx pieces of chocolate a day? Doesthat dress look okay on me or should I rather wear something more loosely fitting to conceal my ‘trouble areas’? Is it okay to take more than one rest day? Whew, okay, thanks …. wait … are you sure? Really?

Have we truly become this insecure in our own decisions? Where has intuition [not just related to food] gone? Can we not make any of these decision all by ourselves anymore? I agree it’s helpful to get some guidance and advice here and there – we all get by with a little help from our friends after all. But it has become increasinly popular to trust others more than our own gut. Having the whole world with all its knowledge, advice and others to compare ourselves to in every aspect of life is a questionable blessing.

Source

We probably can’t/don’t want to pull ourselves out of all kinds of social media involvent. But the next time you’re considering a rest day don’t look for advice in others. Check in with yourself: what would feel good for you at this very moment? The next time you want that cupcake? Eat it if you crave it. Nobody else eats or exercises for you – why should they have the power to make these decisions for you?

Source

… and with that I’m stepping aside and opening up the stage for you to speak your mind!